Pages

Monday, May 1, 2017

Prom Week: Day One

It's one of the most exciting weeks of the school year: spirit days, early dismissals, and Prom on Friday night. Example sees it as the perfect time to encourage students to make intelligent, God-pleasing decisions and not drink or use drugs during Prom weekend.

Example has numerous activities and events to accomplish that goal. Today, Emily and Charles explained to the student body why they are not drinking or using drugs during Prom weekend and encouraged those attending to do the same. It's inspiring to see students demonstrate their leadership as they impact their community.

Hello, my
name is Emily and at the end of my senior year, I’m excited about a
lot of things, one of those being prom, and I bet I could say the same for
everyone else going. The reason I’m talking to you today is because every
single one of us has to make a decision. But I’m not going to tell you why
should make the decision not to drink, because I don’t know you, I don’t know
your life, or what’s important to you. Only you know that and only you can make
that decision for yourself. And I’m not even going to try to convince you with
reasons why I think you shouldn’t drink, because, most likely, my reasons
don’t apply to you. But I’m up here to tell you how I came to the decision to
not drink on prom night.

Yes, I have parents and
teachers who tell me not to drink, but ultimately I have to make the decision
myself. So here are some of the reasons why I am not drinking at prom.

So, I’m on the soccer
team, and you know, we’re a really good team. We have a chance of going far
with the talent we have. And I’m excited.I’m too excited to play soccer
to throw it all away for one night of drinking at Prom.I want to be on that team. I don’t
want to miss one game. I’ve had to miss more than my fair share of games
because of injuries and I’m not about to take the slightest chance of missing
any more. And it’s not just about me, I have my teammates to think about. It’s
not fair to them if I put the rest of the season on the line just so I can
drink on Prom night.

I’m also looking forward
to this summer. I’m looking forward to working at a summer camp for kids to
make some money before I go off the school. I’m excited; I just got this job
two weeks ago, but they still have to do a background check on me, and me
choosing to drink at Prom this Friday could take that job right away from me.

Also this summer my
sister Danielle is getting married. I am so excited for that. I can’t wait to
be a bridesmaid and celebrate with everyone. I don’t want to miss that. I
don’t want to risk the chance of not being there with my sister on one of the
most important days of her life just so I can drink on Prom night.

There’s so much I have
to look forward to, and I don’t want to miss any of those things, or have any
of them taken away from me because I decided to drink one night. The thing is
it might not happen, but it could happen, and I don’t want to take that risk.
It’s just not worth it to me. So that’s me, but that’s not you. So what’s
important to you, what are you looking forward to? And ask yourself is drinking
on Prom night worth the risk of missing out on any of those things?

Hello, I'm Charles and Prom is Friday andmy advice to you is if you go to the after party, and
people are pressuring you into drinking, say no. That’s tough but you should do
it. When you say no, you, personally, think it is ahuuuuugedeal.
And the people who are pressuring you think it is too…Until the next morning because they don’t even
remember the encounter.If
you need an excuse, say you are driving or say you don’t feel good.

You can have fun without drinking. I promise. We do it every day at school andat
practice andat
our buddies’ house where we laugh and joke and screw around.

What about Prom makes us think we can only
drink to have fun?

Thatjustisn’t true and my hope is that you realize that. When
you choose not to drinkat
Prom, you are taking the most common option, even if you
feel alone in that decision.I promise there are more people who don’t drink than
you might think.When you choose not to drinkat prom, you are making the smartest decision because you are
focused on your life beyond thethree-hourwindow
at the party.And when you choose not to
drinkat prom, you are most importantlymaking
a God pleasing decision. Thank you and have fun at Prom.